Some rights reserved by Theodore Scott

On October 5th, 2011, the White House announced it will fast track grid modernization projects around the country. The Obama Administration said it would accelerate the permitting and construction of seven proposed electric transmission lines in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, Wyoming, Utah, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Wisconsin. This move is expected to create thousands of jobs for workers in those states, while also beefing up the electrical grids that will benefit domestic energy companies.

The American Wind Energy Association responded to the statement put out by the White House by saying, “…An expanded transmission grid is critical not just for renewable energy, but also for our economic and national security by improving reliability and providing access to lower cost energy for consumers,” said Tom Vinson, AWEA senior director of federal regulatory affairs.

For details and maps on the proposed transmission lines go to the Federal Permitting Transmission Tracking website. Two of the projects listed are in Oregon and Idaho and should provide hundreds of jobs during construction.

Boardman-Hemingway Line powering Oregon and Idaho:

The new 500 kilovolt (kV) transmission line proposed by Idaho Power would create an approximately 300 mile long, single-circuit electric transmission line from a proposed substation near Boardman, Oregon to the Hemingway Substation near Melba, Idaho—known as the Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Line Project or B2H Project. According to the developer of this project during peak construction, this project is estimated to create about 500 jobs in Idaho and Oregon.

Oregon to get additional transmission from Cascade Crossing Line:

Portland General Electric’s proposed Cascade Crossing Transmission Project includes approximately 210 miles of 500 kV transmission line from Boardman to Salem, Oregon—for the construction of four new substations, expansion of three existing substations, and upgrades to the existing transmission systems near Salem. According to the developer, Cascade Crossing is expected to create about 450 jobs during peak construction.

The American Wind Energy Association released a statement that said the three biggest barriers to achieving a grid needed to support the nation’s future energy needs: federal siting, cost allocation, and transmission planning for power lines. They seem to strongly believe that more transmission lines across the country are needed to help spur the renewable energy industry, particularly for wind energy.

“These lines are needed for more than integrating renewable energy. They’re necessary to improve reliability and provide consumers with access to lower priced power…”

With so much going on in the wind energy industry it seems like the stars are aligning for it. An offshore wind conference kicked off in Baltimore a few days ago just as a couple of offshore wind projects are moving forward on the east coast of the United States. Meanwhile, wind power continues to surge across the globe. Between 2000 and 2010, world wind electric generating capacity increased at a frenzied pace from 17,000 megawatts to nearly 200,000 megawatts.

In the Pacific Northwest, transmission lines are sometimes at capacity during high peak times. Production has reached such a critical point that BPA operators and producers worry that lines will become overloaded. That could mean blackouts. More transmission capability will open the door to additional turbines. In fact, construction of new turbines in the area already has slowed because of the lack of transmission.

Thanks to the White House support of the fast tracks in these grid modernization pilot projects, all domestic energy projects, including renewable energy, will be able to benefit.